Tag: Baby Body

I got through 38 weeks of pregnancy without a single stretch mark. Oh man was I proud of it. Like hey, look… no stretch marks! My skin is so awesome and hydrated. I thought my skin just had supernatural powers. Until, one morning I woke up with an entire little colony of stretch marks. Just BAM. Went to bed without them, and overnight those little jerks just colonized my lower stomach and sides.

I had a meltdown.

Full on, tantrum style.

Then I remembered: I’M MAKING A PERSON! I decided to give myself 24 hours to mope about it, and then I was going to shut up and deal with it. There were bigger things happening in the universe.

So that’s what I did. I pouted for a full 24 hours, and then stopped. After the birth of my tiny human I couldn’t possibly care less about my stretch marks (because let’s be honest here ladies, there are vastly worse things happening post-partum…)

I decided I would do some research and at least try to reclaim the territory that was once my flat-stomach. After entirely too many hours of Google searching and reading through forums, I ordered Bio Oil. I ordered the 2 ounce bottle for right around $9. 2 ounces doesn’t sound like much, but I applied it pretty graciously for 3 months before it ran out.

Bio oil is dense. The smell isn’t very fragrant, but that isn’t really the purpose. It sticks to your skin, and that’s the important point. Buying an oil to eradicate stretch marks is only helpful if the oil stays on your skin.

I applied twice a day. The first few weeks I didn’t notice a huge change, but over the course of a few months the changes to my skin were almost unbelievable. I felt like some kind of unrealistic TV commercial where they show off results that have actually been photoshopped and aren’t true to life.

My stretch marks largely disappeared. The ones on my sides vanished more than the ones on my stomach. You can tell that they’re still there if you look closely, but really… this stuff impressed me more than I ever expected. (As a side note, I had tried most other oils and lotions that you can easily purchase in the store, and none of them did much of anything for me.)

In reality, I know that my stretch marks will always be there to some extent. While they may not be nearly as visible as they once were, I wear them as a badge of honor. I’m so blessed to have been able to carry a child. It’s not something I take for granted. This exterior was the home for my child for 9 months. It nurtured him and kept him warm. For that reason alone, I can’t hate my body.